I used the think the Jews were a measure of the wellness of a country. Its weather and opportunity and lifestyle and democracy and lastly its economic viability. Now I know it is the gypsies. I saw no camps in Greece this year, no caravans with cars, in fact the only beggars I saw in…
Conversations with the Baker’s Wife
The straight road from our village Artemisio into Tripolis reaches the first platea or square quickly. The bus stops here as well, and it’s our village square. The villagers alight here, greet each other and bemoan the state of affairs. The square is dry and dusty, with bright light because all the buildings are painted…
Conversations around a Bowl of Soup
Every Easter the Orthodox are supposed to fast for Lent. Now that I stay in Durban it seems everyone thinks a fast is like the Muslims do for Ramadan: nothing passes your lips from sunrise to sunup. The Orthodox fast is supposed to be a sacrifice as well, but not of meal times, just of…
Conversations with Number 100
I don’t know why I chose 100. I wrote it in red figures on a white circle on the shiny black background. I won 2 races in it, and have 2 big trophies at home to remind me. I deserved those trophies, as the victory really was on the edge of my being. It scared…
Conversations with a Doctor
In the end my father only dealt with super specialists: he had a Chinese cardiologist and another cardiologist who managed his arrhythmia. A pulmonologist who spoke Greek. A daughter-in-law who is a breast surgeon. A son-in-law who is a hand surgeon. But in the early years our general practitioner did everything. He delivered my father’s…
Conversations with a Navigator
My father always had the street maps for the Witwatersrand n his car. Over the years it grew from a 40 page booklet to a 2000 page map guide the size of a telephone directory. We needed the map to guide him to meetings and also to look at properties that were for sale and…
Conversations with a Rocket Scientist
I was listening to a lecture by Alain Aspect, a French physicist. His lecture at the Imperial College of London was entitled “From Einstein’s Intuition to Quantum Bits”. He is a wonderful speaker, passionate and very clear in his argument. He also took measure of his audience. In the first quarter of his lecture he…
Conversations with a Translator
We had to attend Greek School at the community hall for 2 afternoons a week for most of our junior school career. The obligation faded in senior high school when the pressure to matriculate well was not helped by a non registered 7th subject. Our first teacher was Mrs Zaxa, an Athenian dragon. The second…
Conversations with a Chevrolet Driver
The ’48 Chev with a straight six had curves where most cars don’t even have places. The body work was immaculate. Even the domed chromed hubcaps with the red Chevrolet lightning bolt and plain black print was perfect. The car had been on blocks having been tied up in some old lady’s estate. It had…
Conversations with a Lottery Ticket Seller
“Lacheiopoulieo”. That’s the beauty about the Greek language. One beautiful word that takes an ugly mouthful to explain in English. The other beauty about being Greek is the simple interchange between annotations from male to female first names. My first name is Vasilios.The lacheiopoulieo was called Vasiliki. Vasso for short. She sold lottery tickets from…
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